I have to admit that, as a child, I loved the Three Kings — those seemingly magical figures with long names and exotic gifts. But it wasn’t until my family moved to Puerto Rico that I came to truly love Epiphany, El Día de Los Reyes, the traditional end to the Christmas season. In Puerto Rico, this is the big day when families gather across the generations to exchange presents, celebrate, and of course, eat!
For me, the arrival of the Magi completes the Christmas story: important men bedecked in finery bringing rich gifts for a lowly child. The lowly raised high and the high honoring the lowly will, of course, be central themes that echo throughout Jesus’s teachings.
It seems appropriate that we end the Christmas season just as we begin a new year. Perhaps some of us have subscribed to the modern custom of making one or more New Year resolutions. But El Día de Los Reyes allows us to make resolutions of a different sort. Like the Magi, we can journey on from the manger, transformed.
In this new year of 2019, may we use whatever earthly power and positon we have to embody the love that came into the world, with humility, and for all. And enjoy your Rosca de Reyes. If you find the baby Jesus, get ready to host Día de la Candelaria, Candlemas, for all of your friends and family on February 2!